After first loss, Cage Warriors' Ryan Roddy meets uncertain challenge

Cage Warriors lightweight Ryan Roddy knows the pain from a leg submission. The 23-year-old Irish fighter spent more than six months in recovery after getting caught in a toehold at Cage Warriors 51.

Now on the verge of his first fight in 11 months, Roddy (5-0) is unsure of whether he’ll be up against the same type of threat at Cage Warriors Fight Night 9, which takes place at King Hussein Boxing Arena in Amman, Jordan and streams live on MMAjunkie.com and Facebook.

Roddy’s opponent, Fernando Gonzalez (5-0), hails from Sweden and carries and undefeated record earned exclusively through submissions, so he can assume he’s not exactly safe on the ground. But there are also questions as to how legitimate those accomplishments are.

“He’s a little bit of an unknown quantity, because he’s unbeaten, but the guys that he’s beat haven’t been of the highest standard,” Roddy told MMAjunke.com Radio. “But he’s finished every guy, and he’s finished everybody by submission. Three of them were by guillotine, so I imagine he’s got a good guillotine and he’s a competent grappler.”

With that in mind, Roddy figures it’s his best bet to make Gonzalez as uncomfortable as possible when they meet in the cage.

“I don’t think his striking is up to the same standard as his grappling, so I’m going to try to keep him standing,” he said.

Although Roddy’s loss to Paul Redmond was his first and undoubtedly a setback, he said he emerged from the fight with a better understanding of how things are when you’re a professional fighter.

“I learned that losing isn’t really that bad,” he said. “I was in the gym three days later with my cast on. It’s all part of the game, and it’s a cliche, but everybody says they grow as much as possible after a loss.”

To keep moving forward, he leaned heavily on his longtime roommate, fellow fighter Tommy Gunn, with whom he shares a birthday.

“We drive each other on,” Roddy said. “If one of us doesn’t want to go to training, the other one does. So you never really miss a session. If you’re cutting weight, you’ve got somebody constantly on you saying, ‘You can’t eat that.’ It’s good to have somebody doing the exact same thing as you.”

It’s also good when you’re training in an environment of constant growth, which is exactly how Ireland and England are described by many fighters when it comes to MMA. Once a desolate landscape with few options to hone one’s skills, the countries boast more gyms than ever and a greater knowledge base from which to learn.

“By the time I’ve got back to each country, they’ve got a whole new set of techniques and a style of training,” Roddy said. “So every camp, I bring something new to the table. Everybody’s bringing new skills to the table, and you’ve got to adapt and learn.”

Of course, Roddy hopes his next bout is a chance to put his skills to use, and advance toward the Cage Warriors title. From here on, he doesn’t plan to take any time off.

“I can’t wait to get at it again,” he said. “I’m going to fight as much as possible. I’ve missed nine months, so I’ve got to make up for it and fight every six weeks to build myself back up.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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